Stay opening machine for footwear



Oct. 29, 1968 H. c. FARRAR 3,407,420

STAY OPENING MACHINE FOR FOOTWEAR 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Dec. 27, 1965 INVENTOR HENRY C. FARRAR Mi-PM A TTORNEY Oct. 29, 1968 c, FARRAR 3,407,420

STAY OPENING MACHINE FOR FOOTWEAR Filed Dec. 27. 1965 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 HE/VR) c. FAR/PAR 2 BYQ: 2 pp ATTORNEY Oct. 29, 1968 H. c. FARRAR STAY OPENING MACHINE FOR FOOTWEAR s Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed Dec. 27, 1965 uvvewron HENRY c. FARRAR United States Patent 3,407,420 STAY OPENING MACHINE FOR FOOTWEAR Henry C. Farrar, Wayne, N.J., assignor to Uniroyal, Inc.,

a corporation of New Jersey Filed Dec. 27, 1965, Ser. No. 516,425

- 15 Claims. (Cl. 1251) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A stay opener for separating and folding outwardly the stay sections of a pair of seamed fabric footwear uppers preparatory to the stitching of the folded-over stay sections to the main bodies of the uppers. A stay separator is arranged in a slot passageway leading to the stay stitching machine, at the entrance end of which passageway are provided two opposed guide members adjustable toward and away from each other either jointly or individually to permit fine adjustments of the stay relative to the separator. A yielding pressure foot above the passageway and separator holds the curvedseam stay region of the uppers down without buckling.

Thisinvention relates to the art of manufacturing footwear, and in particular to a novel and improved stay opening means for use in the performance of staying operations on fabric-top footwear uppers.

It is an object of the present invention to provide such a stay opener which is compact and inexpensive to produce, is readily adapted for use with all types of staying machines, and can be easily adjusted by the operator of the sewing machine to compensate for variations in thickness and stiffness of the fabric uppers being sewn without any necessity for disconnecting the opener from the sewing machine.

Another object of the present invention is the provision of a novelstay splitting elementras a part of such a stayopener. V i

It is also an object of the present invention to provide in association with such a stay opener a novel and improved hold-down devicefor the seamed footwear upper quarters being stayed, which device is of simplified construction arranged to ensure the yielding application of a constant force to the quarters .at the curved seam defining the stay, was to ensure the advance of the quarters into the staying machine without buckling of the seam. v

The foregoing and 'other objects of the present invention, as well as the characteristics and advantages thereof, will be more clearly understood from the following detailed description whenflread in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which: 7 1

FIG. 1 is an elevational view, in perspective, of a stay opener and associated hold-down device constructed according to the present invention, and mounted in operating condition relative to, a staying machine;

FIGS. 2 and 3, respectively, are sectional views taken along the lines 2-2 and 3-3 in FIG. '1;

FIG. 4 is a top plan view of the stay opener, the view being taken along the line 4-4 in FIG. 3 and illustrating oneof the adjustment possibilities thereof;

FIG. 5 is an inverted perspective view of the stay opener .when removed from the staying machine;

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of the stay-splitting element of hte stay opener according to the present invention;

FIG. 7 is a fragmentary elevational view of the heel end region of a seamed pair of shoe uppers showing the stay prior to the opening thereof; and

3,407,420 Patented Oct. 29, 1968 FIGS. 8, 9 and 10 are fragmentary, somewhat diagrammatic vertical sections through the stay opener at three spaced locations between the front and rear of the opener to illustrate the manner of operation thereof.

In the manufacture of canvas or other fabric top footwear, shoe upper quarters Q and Q" .(FIG. 7) are. initially seamed to each other in pairs along a curved line 15 adjacent their respective heel end edges, thereby to define a marginal heel end region or stay S composed of overlying sections q' and q". After the main portions of the quarters are separated from each other into an essentially coplanar relationship, the stay sections are folded over, i.e. opened, against the now lowermost faces of the main portions of the quarters Q and Q" as the latter are fed to a twin-needled sewing machine 16 (shown in phantom outline only) having a head 17 housing the operating mechanism for a presser foot 18 and a pair of side by side sewing needles 19 by means of which the turned over stay sections are stitched to their respec tive main quarter portions.

Referring now particularly to FIGS. 1 to 6, the stay opener 20 and hold-down device 21 according to the present invention are both arranged in front of the staying machine, 16. The opener comprises aplate 22 composed of two substantially identical sections 22a and 22b rigidly secured to each other in coplanar spaced relationship by means of a U-shaped block 23 affixed by means of screws or bolts 24 to the plate sections at their undersides and having its recess 23a bridging the slot 25 defined in the center of the plate 22. The plate 22 is equipped with a pair of laterally extending spring steel clips 26 and a guide tab 27 affixed to the underside of the plate (FIG. 5) to permit the latter to be removably inserted into and frictionally retained in a recess 28a at the front of the sewing machine table 28 in the fashion of a slide plate of a conventional sewing machine, e.g. with the clips 26 underlying and pressing against a pair of ledges 28b afiixed to or constituting a part of the table 28 (FIG. 3). The plate 22 is recessed at its rear end, as shown at 29 (FIGS. 4 and 5), and the slot 25 has a frontwardly widened end region 25a.

Also afiixed to the underside of the plate 22 is a bearing block 30 which has a central recess 30a bridging the front end 25a of the slot 25. In its portions extending to the opposite sides of the gap 30a, the block 30 is provided with a pair of bores 31 and 32 of circular crosssection in which are slidably arranged respective plungers 33 and 34. The proximate ends of the plungers carry a pair of L-shaped members'35 and 36 the horizontal webs 35a and 36a of which are fiat-surfaced at the topand in slidable engagement with those portions of the undersurface of the plate 22 bounding the slot end 25a. The facing surfaces of the webs 35a and 36a are chamfered (FIG. 4) to define a gap corresponding to the wide end-25a of the slot 25. As will presently become clear, the webs 35a and 36a are guides for the stays to be opened, and they will-be so referred to hereinafter.

At their remote ends, the plungers 33 and 34 are provided with reduced diameter extensions 33a and 34a which project out of the bores 31 and 32 and-are externally threaded at their outermost ends 33b and 34b, the respective; threads being of opposite senses. The block 30 is counterbored at the outside ends of the bores 31 and 32 to receive and provide a seat for a pair of retaining rings 37 and 38 which are fixed in position by means of I set screws 39 and 40. Threaded onto the outermost ends bias the plungers toward each other and at the same time maintain the gear hubs in engagement with the outer surfaces of the retaining rings.

Secured to the frontward faces of the portions of the block 30 located at opposite sides of the recess 30a are bearing blocks 45 and 46 having axially aligned bores through which slidably extends a rod 47 having a gripping knob 48 aflixed to one end thereof. At spaced locations on the rod to the remote sides of the bearing blocks 45 and 46, the rod carries respective pinions 49 and 50 the toothed surfaces of which in axial direction are approximately twice as wide as those of the gears 41 and 42. Intermediate the blocks 45 and 46, the rod 47 is provided with an enlargement 51 constituted by a pair of washers abutting against a ring secured in position by means of a set screw (not shown) or the like, thereby to define a pair of shoulders. Two springs 52 and 53 surround the rod between the shoulders 51 and the facing sides of the blocks 45 and 46 and normally maintain the rod in the neutral position illustrated in FIGS. 1 and in which the gears 41 and 42 are both in mesh with the remote end regions of the respective pinions 49 and 50.

It will be understood that pulling the rod to the left as seen in FIGS. 1 and 5 will disengage the pinion 49 from the gear 41 while permitting the pinion 50 to remain in mesh with the gear 42, whereas pushing the rod in the opposite direction (see FIG. 4) will disengage the pinion 50 from the gear 42 while permitting the pinion 49 to remain in mesh with the gear 41. It will also be understood that when the rod 47 is in its neutral position (FIGS. 1 and 5), rotation thereof will effect a joint rotation of the gears 41 and 42, and with the plungers unable to rotate by virtue of the planar engagement of the top faces of the horizontal webs or guides 35a and 36a with the underside of the plate 22, this will cause the plungers to be displaced axially either toward or away from each other, thereby to cause a corresponding relative approach or separation of the vertical chamfered faces of the guides 35a and 36a. On the other hand, when the rod 47 is displaced into the position shown in FIG. 4, a rotation thereof in one direction or the other will cause the plunger 33 to move either toward the left or toward the right so as to move the guide 35a toward or away from the guide 36a while the latter remains stationary, whereas when the rod is pulled toward the other extreme to disconnect the pinion 49 from the gear 51, rotation of the rod in one direction or the other will cause the plunger 34 to move either toward the right or toward the left so as to move the guide 36a toward or away from the guide 35a while the latter remains stationary.

The stay opener further comprises a splitter 54 which (see FIG. 6) has a shape somewhat resembling an inverted fiat-bottomed boat. Thus, in the illustrated form the splitter is an elongated flat bar having a V- shaped front end 54a the upwardly and rearwardly curved surfaces 541; 'of which merge smoothly (see also FIG. 2) into the top surface 54c which is longitudinally traversed by a small rib 54d. As clearly shown in FIGS. 2, 4 and 5, the splitter 54 is supported by the block 23 within the recess 23a thereof at a slight upward pitch rearwardly of the plate 22, with its front end 5411 positioned just to the rear of the widened slot end a and. the rib 54a facing upwardly and being precisely centered with respect to the longitudinal dimension of the slot 25. At rear end of the slot 25, the top surface 540 of the splitter is disposed just below the bottom surface of the plate 22, the spacing being slightly in excess of the thickness of one shoe upper quarter.

The block 23 further supports an elongated smoothsurfaced strip 55 of metal, plastics or other material which extends frontwardly through the recess a of the block 30 below the guides a and 36a and has its frontwardmost end region a curved downwardly (FIGS. 1 and 2).

The operation of the stay opener according to the present invention is as follows:

A pair of shoe upper quarters Q and Q", seamed as indicated at 15in FIG. 7, is fed toward the staying machine 16 with the quarters separated into an open condition as indicated in phantom outline in FIG. 1, and with the stay S extending downwardly. As the pair of quarters (which will ordinarily be a part of a chain of such items coming from the seaming machine (reache the opener 20, the lowermost edge of the stay rides up on to and over the curved ramp-like guide element 55a (which prevents the stay from being snagged on the rod 47) into the entrance section 25a of the slot 25. It will be noted that in the rearwardmost end regions of the guides 35a and 36a (see FIG. 4) their vertical faces are parallel and in alignment with the slot 25 and are spaced from each other only slightly more than the combined thickness of the stay sections q and q". Moreover, the guides are adjusted to align the juncture between the stay sections precisely with the tip 54a and the ridge 54d of the splitter 54. Thus, as the leading edge of the stay reaches the front end edge 54a of the splitter (see also FIG. 8), said edge penetrates the juncture between the stay sections q and q" and separates them (FIG. 9). At the same time, thetapered bottom edge 56a of an elongated plate 56 (which is a part of the hold-down device 21 to be described more fully hereinafter) enters into the notch defined between the outwardly folded quarters Q' and Q" so as to inhibit upward movement of the stay within the slot 25.

The advantages of the guide means provided in the stay opener according to the present invention will be readily apparent. Thus, each of the guides 35a and 36a can be adjusted independently of or jointly with the other guide to compensate for variations in thickness of the material of which the uppers being stayed are made, but more important is the fact that such adjustments can now be made by the sewing machine operator simply and quickly even while the machine is in operation and certainly without the complete shutdowns heretofore required with some of the known stay openers to permit a mechanic to make even the slightest adjustments for all of which he had to loosen the screws holding the guide or guides in place, slide the guide or guides to a new position, and retighten the screws to hold the guide or guides in the adjusted position. Moreover, my stay opener is extremely compact in size, taking up less than half the space occupied by sorne known stay openers, and is both easy and inexpensive to manufacture, by virtue of which, in conjunction with the aforesaid avoidance of shutdowns, the economy of footwear production is greatly increased.

Reverting now to the operation, as the pair of quarters progresses through the stay opener, the stay sections q and q" ultimately ride up over the curved front surface 54b of the splitter and onto the top surface 54c and are flattened out and slidably confined between the latter and the undersurface of the plate 22 (FIG. 10) where the rear end of the slot 25 joins the recess 29. By virtue of the upward pitch of the splitter 54, therefore, when the opened stay S enters the unoccupied part of the recess 28a behind the plate 22 (FIG. 4), with the major sections of the quarters Q and Q closely juxtaposed to the stay sections q and q", respectively, under the action of a pair of lateral wings or vanes 57 on the plate 56 of the holddown device 21, it is directly led under the presser foot 18 of the staying machine (FIG. 2) for the performance of the staying operation, i.e. the stitching of the sections q and q" to the sections Q and Q" by the needles 19.

Referring now to FIGS. 1 to 3, the plate 56 of the holddown device 21 is articulated by pins 58 and 59 to the bottom ends of a pair of vertical rods 60 and 61, the latter being surrounded by a spring 62 the uppermost end of which supports the rear end of a cross bar 63 the front end of which is traversed by the rod 60 and supported by a sleeve bushing 64 fixed to the rod 60 with the aid of a set screw 65. Theuppermost end of the rod 61 extends through the cross bar 63 and is externally threaded to receive an adjustment nut 66. The middle portion of the rod 60 is surrounded by a spring 67 the lowermost end ofwhich bears against the top of the cross bar 63 and the uppermost. end of which bears against the bottom of'a block 68 provided with a bore 68a through which the rod 60 slidably extends. Above the block 68 the portion 60a of rod is externally threaded to receive an adjustment nut 69 which supports the lowermost end of a spring 70 that surrounds the rod portion 60a and has its uppermost end bearing against a handle 71 aflixed to the top end of the rod 60. The block'68 at its rear is provided with an internally threaded bore into which is screwed the externally. threaded reduced diameter extension 72a of a rod 72 which extends slidably through an opening73a in the lowermost end region of a vertical mounting plate 73 rigidly secured by bolts .74 to the front ofthe sewing machine head 17..The rod 72 has a shouldered head 72b, and intermediate the latter and the rear face of the mounting plate 73 is surrounded by a springv75.

-It will be understoodfrom the foregoing that the block 68 (and thus the entire assembly 21) can be rotated. about the axis of the rod 72 out of the position illustrated in FIGS. 1 to 3, and that the spring v75 normally biases the block 68 rearwardly against and into engagement with. the mounting plate 73, in which position the block (and .thus the entire assembly 21) is locked by means of a small plate 76 which is secured at one end to the underside of the block by means of a screw 77 and has its other end in flush engagement with the bottom edge of the mounting plate. Whenever it is desired to shift the device 21 out of its operating position, as might be required, for example, for access to some parts of the sewing machine 16 in the needle area or to relieve jam-ups, the rod head 72b is pushed toward the mounting plate 73 against the force of the spring 75 until the rearwardmost end of the locking plate 76 is clear of the bottom edge of the mounting plate. The block 68 can then be rotated through an angle of 90f, at which time the rod 72 is released to permit the spring 75 to return the block back into engagement with'v the mounting plate, but with the locking plate now engaging one of the side edges of the mountingplate and so again preventing movement of the device 21 until the rod 72i s depressed a suflicient amount; Quite obviously, a subsequent reversal of this procedure will return the de vice 21 to its operating position without losingits original setting. v

In operation, when the device is in its illustrated position, the settings of the adjusting nuts'66 and 69 on the rods 61 and 60, respectively, determine the normal orientation and elevation of the bottom edge 56a of theholddown plate 56 relative to the base plate 22 and the slot 25. The springs 62 and 67 enable. application of.a yielding force to the uppers being stayed, so that the latter are held down relative to the plate 22 strongly enough to prevent the stay S from slippingupwardlyout ofv the slot and yet not so hard as to rupture the stitches 15. The setting of the nut 66, through which the plate 56 can be angularly shifted about the pin 58, also permits the force with which the rear ends of the wings 57 press against the quarters Q and Q" to be adjustedito compensate for variations in stiffness of the material of which the uppers are made. Such a yieldingly pressing hold-down device has the further advantage that it will accommodate itself to the curved seam 15 and will not straighten the same out to such an extent as to produce wrinkes in the stay which, if sewn in, would seriously impair the quality of the finished upper.

It is to be understood that the foregoing detailed description and associated illustrations of one embodiment of my invention are representative only, and that the disclosed structural features and relationships are susceptible to a number of changes and modifications none of which entails a departure from the spirit and scope of the present invention as defined in the hereto appended claims.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A 'stay opener for seamed footwear uppers, comprising a base plate having a slot-shaped passageway run ning theret-hrough, a splitter for separating the sections of each stay from each other located beneath said base plate and in alignment with said passageway, respective guide means disposed laterally of the entrance. end of said passageway and mounted for movement toward and away'from the center line of said passageway and each other for centering each stay relative to said splittergand gear means operatively connected with said guide means for selectively moving the same either jointly or separately.

2. A stay opener according to claim 1, further comprising movable means supporting said guide means, said gear means being operatively connected with said movable means.

3. A stay opener according to claim 1, further comprising a pair of plungers arranged at opposite sides of said passageway and carrying said guide means, respectively, and constrained to. axial sliding, non-rotary movement, and said gear means comprising a pair of spur gears screw-threaded onto said plungers, respectively, means for retaining said spur gears axially stationary, and an axially displaceable and rotatable operating rod extending transversely to said passageway and carrying a pair ofspaced pinions each axially wider than its associated one of said spur gears, whereby in three different axial positions of said operating rod eithersaid pinions are both in mesh with said spur gears, or one of said pinions is in mesh with that one of said spur gears associated therewith. while the other pinion is out of mesh with the other spur gear associated therewith, or said one pinion is out of mesh with said one spur gear while said other pinion is in mesh with said other spur gear, so that rotation of said operating rod in one direction or the other will either move said plungers and said guide means jointly or separately depending on the selected axial position of said operating rod.

4. A stay opener according to claim 3, said plungers and said operating rod all being supported by said base plate.

5.' A stay opener according to claim 4, further comprising a ramp guide supported by said base plate and bridging said operating rod in the vicinity of said entrance end of said passageway to prevent snaggingof the 6. A stay opener according to claim 5, said splitter comprising a bar having flat top surface and a V-shaped front end facing said entrance end of said passageway,

said bar having a central longitudinal rib projecting from its top surface and extending rearwardly therealong from said front end, and the surfaces of both sides of the V at said front end of said bar'merging with a smooth curva-' lllll6 into the respective parts of said fiat top surfaces'at the opposite sides of said rib.

7. A stay opener according to claim 6, said splitter being supported by said base plate with a slight upward pitch in its top surface from the entrance end to the exit end of said passageway, the spacing between said top surface of said splitter and the bottom surface of said base plate at said exit end of said passageway being just in excess of the thickness of one upper quarter.

8. A splitter for use in a stay opener for seamed footwear uppers, comprising a bar having a flat top surface and a V-shaped front end, said bar having a central longitudinal rib projecting from said top surface and extending rearwardly therealong from said front end, and the surfaces of both sides of the V at said front end of said ba-r merging with 'a smooth curvature into the respective parts of said flat top surface at the opposite sides of said rib.

9. A seamed footwear upper hold-down device for use in conjunction with a stay opener, comprising means providing an elongated narrow edge oriented lengthwise of the path of movement of a seamed pair of upper quarters for engagement in the seam notch of the opened pair of upper quarters, means pivotally supporting said edge means in the vicinity of the front end thereof, means connected to said edge means in the vicinity of the rear end thereof for adjusting the normal orientation of said edge, and spring means operatively connected with said supporting means and said adjusting means for yield ingly pressing said edge against a passing pair of opened upper quarters, said edge means further providing a pair of lateral Wings projecting to the opposite sides of said edge for engagement with the respective regions of said upper quarters adjacent to said seam notch.

10. A hold-down device according to claim 9, said wings being oriented so as to be closer to said edge adjacent said rear end of the latter than adjacent said front end 11. A hold-down device according to claim 10, further comprising means mounting said supporting means for lateral movement out of the operating position in which said edge overlies said path of movement and into a nonoperating position, means for locking said supporting means against movement in either of said positions, and means for selectively rendering said locking means inactive to permit movement of said supporting means from either of said positions to the other.

12. Stay opening means for use in conjunction with a sewing machine for staying footwear uppers, comprising a base plate arranged in front of the needle area of the sewing machine, said base plate having a slot-shaped passageway extending therethrough in line with said needle area, a splitter located beneath said base plate and in alignment with said passageway for separating from each other the sections of each stay passing through said passageway, respective guides disposed laterally of the entrance end of said passageway and mounted for movement toward and away from the center line of said passageway and each other for centering each stay relative to said splitter, gear means operatively connected with said guides for selectively moving the same either jointly or separately, a hold-down plate disposed above said base plate, and having an elongated narrow bottom edge overlying and extending parallel to said passageway for engagement in the seam notch of each opened pair of upper quarters to be stayed and advancing through said passageway, means pivotally supporting said hold-down plate in the vicinity of the front end of said edge above said entrance end of said passageway, means connected to said hold-down plate in the vicinity of the rear end of said edge above the exit end of said passageway for adjusting the normal orientation of said edge relative to the plane of said passageway, and spring means operatively connected with said supporting means and said adjusting means for yieldingly pressing said edge against the seam notch of a passing pair of opened upper quarters, said hold-down plate further having a pair of lateral wings projecting to the opposite sides of said edge for engagement with the respective regions of said upper quarters adjacent to said seam notch.

13. Stay opening means according to claim 12, said wings being oriented at a downward pitch rearwardly of said hold-down plate so as to be closer to the upper surface of said base plate adjacent said exit end of said passageway than adjacent said entrance end thereof.

14. Stay opening means according to claim 13, said splitter comprising a bar having a fiat top surface and a V-shaped front end facing said entrance end of said passageway, said bar having a central-rib projecting from said top surface and extending rearwardly therealong from said front end, and the surfaces of both sides of the V at said front end of said bar merging with a smooth curvature into the respective parts of said fiat top surface at the opposite sides of said rib, said splitter being supported by said base plate with said top surface and rib oriented at a slight upward pitch in the rearward direction of said base plate.

15. Stay opening means according to claim 14, further comprising a pair of plungers supported by said plate at opposite sides of said passageway and carrying said guides, respectively, and constrained to axial sliding, non-rotary movement, and said gear means comprising a pair of spur gears screw-threaded onto said plungers, respectively, means for retaining said spur gears axially stationary, an axially displaceable and rotatable operating rod supported by said base plate and extending transversely to said passageway, and a pair of pinions carried by said operating rod at axially spaced locations, each of said pinions being axially wider than its associated one of said spur gears,

whereby in three difierent axial positions of said operating rod either said pinions are both in mesh with said associated spur gears, or one of said pinions is in mesh with its associated spur gear while the other pinion is out of mesh with its associated spur gear, or said one pinion is out of mesh with its associated spur gear while said other pinion is in mesh with its associated spur gear, so that rotation of said operating rod in one direction or the other will either move said plungers and said guides jointly or separately depending on the selected axial position of said operating rod.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,416,998 5/1922 Thomas et al ll2217 X 1,508,449 9/ 1924 Gorsuch 1l2-217 X 1,809,460 6/1931 Weis 112-217 X 1,929,380 10/1933 Holmes 112-217 X 2,311,407 2/ 1943 McFalls et al 112-217 X PATRICK D. LAWSON, Primary Examiner. 

